Here's to Us
by iridescent bookyworm
Summary: A story about Peeta and Katniss through the years. From the day Peeta burnt the bread to the day they entered the Hunger Games; together they will always find hope. This story is for Alex, happy birthday!


_**This lovely Peeta story is for Alex. You're such an amazing friend and I hope you have the best birthday ever. **_

Peeta Mellark never believed in true love, that was until he met _her. _Who was she? She was Katniss Everdeen, the girl with the messy braids and devilish grin. The girl who sprang into his mind when he thought of the word _beauty. _She had tan skin like a bread crust. Grey eyes glazed with determination and passion. She had lips that were red like nightlock berries. There was something about her that was poisonous but that was what made him want her even more. She was his everything. She saved him and she didn't even know it.

Peeta lay awake at night, his hands were clasped onto the sheets. How could his brothers sleep so soundly at night? Did they have ears? Peeta buried his face into his pillow. It was all he had to get away, to get away from_ them. _

But tonight the pillows weren't enough to take him away. They weren't enough to drown the sound of the screams.

"You worthless idiot! Can't you do anything right? No wonder the boys are useless, they have _you _as a father."

"Maybe if you treated them like _boys _instead of _pigs _they'd listen to you more."

"Are you telling me I'm a bad mother?"

"I'm saying I don't love you!"

The door slammed, signifying the fighting was over. It wasn't too bad, he was used to it, the screams weren't the worst part. The worst was the silence. The silence so long and painful that you could hear the walls whispering around you.

Was this what love was? No it couldn't be, it just couldn't.

"Peeta."

Peeta looked up tiredly.

"Father."

How Peeta hated looking at his father. The resemblance between them was almost startling. For Peeta looking at his dad was like seeing himself in the future. The thought was haunting. Peeta didn't _want _to look like . He didn't want to look so _unhappy. _

"I'm so sorry you had to hear us."

Words threatened to unhook from Peeta's tongue. He pressed his lips together, but he couldn't help it. He just had to know.

"Dad, what is love?"

Mr. Mellark pressed his hands to his forehead, closed his eyes and smiled. That was probably the happiest Peeta saw his dad in his entire life.

"When I was a young lad, I fell in love with my best friend. Love, Peeta, is beautiful. I was set to make Forcifia Everdeen my wife but she ran off with a coal-miner."

Peeta was baffled. Forcifia ran off with a _coal-miner? _Peeta frequently saw coal-miners outside his house scavenging for leftovers like rats. He remembered the exotic crazed look glowing in their eyes. Their gray uniforms were cemented to their bodies as if it was part of their skin. They smelled like death.

"Why would she run off with a coal-miner when she could have you?"

Mr. Mellark breathed in the overwhelming aroma of dough. He spoke in a voice coated with sugar.

"Because when he sings, all the birds stop to listen."

The two Mellark men whistled as each Mockingjay passed by their flour covered windows. Peeta's mind was filled with possibilities. Surely love didn't just mean sleeping in the same bed as he previously thought. There had to be something more.

"Sweet dreams, Peeta." whispered softly.

"I'm going to fall in love someday. All the birds are going to stop to listen. I know it." Peeta yawned as he fell into a deep slumber. He wasn't prepared for the fact that tomorrow a certain young girl was going to change his life forever.

"Does anyone know the valley song?" Ms. Higginbothem asked. Peeta looked around his first grade classroom and saw only one hand raised.

" , do you know the song?"

The girl had two black braids the color of pumpernickel and wore a childish grin, but there was something behind that mask of innocence, a spark of rebelliousness.

"My dad sings the song all the time," the girl remarked.

The girls last name sounded familiar. Peeta's eyes widened in shock, this girl was Forcifia's daughter.

_Down in the valley, the valley so low _

_Hang your head over, hear the wind blow _

_Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow; _

_Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. _

_Roses love sunshine, violets love dew, _

_Angels in Heaven know I love you, _

_Know I love you, dear, know I love you, _

_Angels in Heaven know I love you. _

_Build me a castle, forty feet high; _

_So I can see her as she rides by, _

_As she rides by, dear, as she rides by, _

_So I can see her as she rides by. _

_Roses love sunshine, violets love dew, _

_Angels in Heaven know I love you, _

_Know I love you, dear, know I love you, _

_Angels in Heaven know I love you. _

The girl's voice was enchanting and soothing. All of Peeta's anxieties vanished the minute she started singing. Peeta smiled happily, nothing in the world mattered except for the girl. even all the birds stopped to listen. He could look at her all day, hear her all day, just be around her all day.

'_This is what love is'_

It all became clear to him. Love was warm and beautiful. Love took all the pain out of the world.

After school Peeta tapped the girl on her shoulder.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Katniss."

"I'm Peeta, you_'_re voice is beautiful."

"Thank you Peeta, my father is better though. I have to go, see you around!"

Peeta grabbed onto a chair to keep from collapsing. Her name was _Katniss. _Before he met her, his life was just a grey, dull pattern of misery. But Katniss was the fuse to his heart and now everything was on fire.

Three bitter years passed by. The fighting got worse, the nights turned colder and the pigs became sick. But Peeta knew other people were doing worse. A month earlier there was a tragic mining accident that killed several people. One of those people was . The air grew harsh and cold without his soothing voice and warm smile.

Everyday Peeta watched Katniss sink into her bones. It was torture, she was turning so pale that she could be mistaken for a ghost if it wasn't for her beating heart. Every time he saw Katniss walk by he raced to the door only to be stopped by his mother.

"They're savages Peeta, let them go."

"But-." Peeta pleaded.

"But, nothing, let her go."

"Yes mother."

But one day Peeta didn't listen. It was raining outside, the minute Katniss walked by searching through his garbage. Peeta couldn't help himself. The bread in his hand lingered towards the fire, he couldn't watch her die so painfully. Peeta watched with satisfaction as the loaf blackened. Anything to keep her alive for just one more day.

_Wham!_

Ms. Mellark struck Peeta with her rolling pin. An excruciating painful sensation blossomed on Peeta's cheek like a bun in the oven.

"You worthless brat! Take the bread to the pigs if you know what's good for you."

Peeta nodded, it was the only thing he could do to keep from bursting into tears. He quickly tiptoed outside. There she was, watching him silently. Was anyone watching? Peeta didn't care anymore. He quickly tossed the bread in Katniss's direction.

"I love you." Peeta whispered.

Peeta didn't sleep that night. He tossed and turned trying to stop his worst nightmares from becoming a reality. What could you do when you watched someone you loved slowly die? Peeta didn't care about his mother anymore. He would burn a thousand loafs if that what it took to keep Katniss alive.

The loaf didn't just feed Katniss for one night, it inspired her to hunt in order to feed herself. Four years later Peeta woke up to hear the sound of desperation in Katniss's voice.

"Peeta! Where are you?"

Katniss and Peeta were chosen to be tributes in the seventy fourth Hunger Games and all Peeta wanted to do was die. Death's presence was so close, he could feel it kissing his skin. Sucking him out of the world into a void. But hearing Katniss, death wasn't an option anymore. He had to hold on just a little bit longer. The previous night it was announced that two tributes from the same district could form an alliance.

"Peeta!"

Peeta spoke in a raspy voice through the dirt and camouflage.

"Well don't step on me."

"_Peeta!" _

It drained almost all of his energy to even smile. But he saw the look of relief in her eyes and suddenly everything was worth it.

"Stay with me Peeta."

"Always."

Peeta's vision swirled like revolving galaxies. The darkness was lurking towards him, he could feel it crawling up his spine.

"I-if I don't make it back."

Katniss' eyes clouded she squeezed Peeta's wrist until he thought it was going to detach from his body.

"Don't talk like that."

Peeta pointed to the festering wound on his leg. His time was slipping by the second.

"But if I couldn't co-"

Katniss silenced him with her lips. She tasted like hope, like fire. Her warm breath coursed through his body making him feel warm and gooey inside like fluff.

"I'm not going to leave you Peeta." Katniss whispered.

Peeta wanted to tell her so many things. He wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he would always protect her. But he couldn't even feel himself close his eyes and fade into unconsciousness.

Time passed, wounds healed and feelings grew stronger. Kisses were shared and lives were taken. Katniss and Peeta were the only two tributes left and one of them had to die.

Katniss held two poisonous nightlock berries in her hand, it was now or never. Peeta could feel the toxic juice edging towards his tongue.

"On the count of three" Katniss said.

"Three...two...on-"

"Stop it, stop it!" Cladius Templesmith, the Hunger Games announcer cried. "Ladies and Gentleman here are our two victors Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen!"

Peeta and Katniss spit out the berries and embraced. He didn't care about about the bleeding wound on his knee. He didn't care about the invisible ghosts lurking around him. All he wanted to do was kiss her just one more time.

Could he?

Peeta cupped her face in his hands. There was no arena anymore, no hell to go home to. The only thing that mattered in the world was Katniss Everdeen.

Peeta could taste fire on her lips, a burning passion that weakened his knees and liquefied his brain. It was bread on fire, she burned him alive with even the slightest glance. But he couldn't stay away from her. With every burn and spark Peeta couldn't help but love her more.

Katniss' hands grasped onto his neck, in surprise, in pleasure.

Peeta swore at that moment he could feel a spark of a rebellion beginning.

The war was over, the games were over. Lives lost and traumatic memories weighed down on Peeta's shoulder. Scars painted themselves all over his tender skin.

Peeta knew for a fact that she was ten times worse then him. Rumor had it she hadn't left her house in weeks. Too many memories when she stepped outside. Too many memories of her dead sister.

The door swung open.

"You're here," Katniss rasped.

Peeta almost collapsed at the site of her. Katniss' glossy black hair was pulled up in a messy pony tail instead of her usual braid. The luster and shine in her eyes were replaced with several eye bags. How long has it been since she's gotten a decent amount of sleep? Did the nightmares keep her awake too?

Memories of their nights together on the train flooded into Peeta's mind. Memories, the one thing in Peeta's life that hinted he was still a teenager. Well, that was when he knew which memories were _real. _

"Yes," Peeta said in a gentle voice. "I'm here."

Katniss glanced at the primroses in Peeta's hand thoughtfully.

The silence between them spoke a million words, secrets, thoughts and dreams. Peeta wanted nothing more then to hold her and comfort her. Katniss had to much pride for that, whether she was The Girl On Fire, or was decorated with burn marks, she wasn't going to show too much vulnerability.

Tears prickled in Katniss' eyes as she gingerly stroked the primroses.

"She would have liked them."

If only Prim was still alive. She was the only comfort left Katniss had after the Capitol took Peeta away. She was the only person who still had faith in Peeta after the Capitol brainwashed him. Now Prim was gone.

"Do you still think I'm crazy?"

"I could never," Katniss whispered weakly. Her tough act was no use anymore. The more tears she carelessly wiped from her cheeks, the louder she sobbed. "Will you stay with me?"

A small smile flickered across Peeta's face. "Always."

Without realizing it, the two clasped hands. Their fingers laced together as they walked inside. And for the first time in a while, there was hope.


End file.
